Why Inventory Visibility Matters

Inventory is capital sitting on shelves. Too much ties up cash and risks obsolescence. Too little means missed sales and unhappy customers. The difference between guessing and knowing can be millions of dollars in a mid-sized business.

Yet most inventory management still happens in Excel, with manual checks and gut-feel reordering. A dashboard transforms this: automated alerts when stock drops, clear visibility into what's moving, and data to optimize inventory investment.

Preparing Your Inventory Data

Export your inventory data from your ERP, WMS, or inventory system. Key fields to include:

Stock Level Data:

SKU/Item ID - Unique product identifier

Product Name - Description

Category - Product grouping

Current Stock - Quantity on hand

Reorder Point - Minimum stock threshold

Reorder Quantity - How much to order

Unit Cost - Cost per item

Location - Warehouse/bin location

Movement Data (for turnover analysis):

Date - Transaction date

Transaction Type - Receipt, sale, adjustment

Quantity - Units moved

Reference - Order number, PO, etc.

Building the Stock Level Dashboard

Start with a current inventory overview. Upload your stock data and use this prompt:

"Create an inventory dashboard showing current stock levels by category, items below reorder point highlighted in red, total inventory value, and stock by warehouse location. Add a table of items needing immediate reorder."

Key stock level visualizations:

Stock status cards: Total SKUs, items in stock, items out of stock
Category breakdown: Inventory value by product category
Traffic light status: Green (healthy), yellow (low), red (critical)
Reorder alert table: Items below minimum with reorder quantity
Location heatmap: Stock distribution across warehouses

Reorder Alert System

The most valuable feature - automatic identification of items needing reorder:

"Build a reorder dashboard showing all items where current stock is below reorder point. Include days until stockout based on recent sales velocity, suggested order quantity, and supplier lead time. Sort by urgency."

Reorder Priority Matrix

Critical (Red): Stock below safety stock, immediate reorder needed
Warning (Yellow): Stock at or below reorder point, order soon
Watch (Orange): Stock dropping faster than normal
OK (Green): Healthy stock levels

Calculate days to stockout using recent sales velocity:

Days to Stockout = Current Stock ÷ Average Daily Sales

Inventory Turnover Dashboard

Understand how efficiently inventory moves through your business:

"Create an inventory turnover dashboard showing turnover rate by category and SKU, days of inventory on hand, fast movers vs slow movers, and trend over time. Highlight dead stock that hasn't moved in 90+ days."

Turnover visualizations:

Turnover Rate

Cost of Goods Sold ÷ Average Inventory. Higher is better - means inventory is selling, not sitting.

Days of Inventory (DOI)

365 ÷ Turnover Rate. How many days of stock you're holding. Lower means leaner operations.

ABC Analysis

Categorize by value: A items (top 80% of value), B items (next 15%), C items (bottom 5%). Focus on A items.

Dead Stock Identification

Items with zero movement in 60, 90, or 180 days. Candidates for clearance or write-off.

Warehouse Location Dashboard

If you have multiple locations or warehouses, track inventory distribution:

"Build a warehouse dashboard showing inventory value and SKU count by location, stock transfer opportunities between locations, and capacity utilization by warehouse. Add location-specific reorder alerts."

Location-based insights:

Inventory by location: Where is stock sitting
Transfer opportunities: Overstocked location A, understocked location B
Capacity utilization: How full is each warehouse
Picking efficiency: Which locations have most activity

Essential Inventory KPIs

Add KPI cards for quick operational insights:

Stock Health

Total SKUs in Stock
Out of Stock Count
Low Stock Alert Count
Stock Availability %

Financial

Total Inventory Value
Average Item Value
Dead Stock Value
Inventory Carrying Cost

Efficiency

Inventory Turnover Rate
Days of Inventory
Fill Rate %
Shrinkage Rate

Accuracy

Inventory Accuracy %
Cycle Count Variance
Adjustment Frequency
Supplier On-Time %

Supplier Performance Dashboard

Track supplier reliability to optimize ordering:

"Create a supplier dashboard showing on-time delivery rate, order accuracy, lead time trends, and cost comparison by vendor. Highlight suppliers with performance issues."

Supplier metrics:

On-time delivery: Percentage of POs delivered when promised
Order accuracy: Percentage of orders with correct items/quantities
Lead time: Days from order to receipt
Cost variance: Actual vs quoted prices
Quality score: Defect rate or return rate

Demand Planning Dashboard

Use historical data to forecast future demand:

"Build a demand planning dashboard showing historical sales by SKU and month, seasonal patterns, year-over-year trends, and projected demand for next quarter. Identify items with increasing or decreasing demand."

Demand planning views:

Historical trends: Sales patterns over time
Seasonality: Monthly or quarterly patterns
Growth/decline: Items trending up or down
Forecast vs actual: How accurate were predictions

Receiving and Shipping Dashboard

Track warehouse operations:

"Create an operations dashboard showing receiving volume by day, shipping volume and on-time performance, pick/pack efficiency, and returns processing. Add comparison to prior periods."

Receiving Metrics

Units received per day, receiving accuracy, put-away time, dock-to-stock time.

Shipping Metrics

Orders shipped, on-time shipment rate, picking accuracy, orders per hour.

Returns Processing

Return rate, return reasons, time to restock, refund value.

Common Inventory Dashboard Mistakes

Static snapshots: Inventory changes constantly. Update daily at minimum.
Ignoring velocity: Stock level alone doesn't tell the story. Consider how fast items move.
No safety stock buffers: Reorder point should account for lead time and demand variability.
Overlooking carrying costs: Inventory isn't free to hold. Factor in storage, insurance, obsolescence.
SKU overload: Focus on your A items. Don't give equal attention to everything.

Example Prompts for Inventory Dashboards

Try these with your inventory data:

"Show me which SKUs will run out in the next 7 days based on current sales"
"Create a slow-mover report for items with less than 1 turn per year"
"Build a purchase order suggestion list with quantities and estimated cost"
"Compare inventory levels across warehouses and suggest transfers"
"Show seasonal inventory patterns to help plan for next quarter"
"Create an inventory aging report showing stock by purchase date"

Inventory Dashboard from Excel: Stock Levels, Turnover & Reorder Alerts

What You'll Build